Editorial

One giant leap for Australia's space program

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a deal between US space agency NASA and the fledgling Australian Space Agency (ASA) is a bold leap from a government that has often seemed to be at odds with the scientific community, winning praise from Australian astronaut Andy Thomas and CSIRO executive Dave Williams.

Chief of the Australian Space Agency, Dr Megan Clark.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

As ASA’s head Megan Clark recently explained to journalists from this newspaper, space is no longer a distant and exotic locale. ‘‘Low-Earth orbit has been industrialised,’’ she told us. Much of that industry revolves around satellites, with Australia excelling in building small CubeSats for low-Earth orbit in as little as eight hours, as well as technology in automation and robotics that our mining industry has already pioneered closer to home. ‘‘The lessons we’ve learned in a real-world commercial environment are hugely valuable to the space sector,’’ Dr Clark added.Another major factor motivating our involvement is the changing face of warfare. As Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told The Age: “All of our military systems depend on space to function.’’

The really exciting part of this venture, however, is what our experiences ‘‘off planet’’ can contribute to improving our day-to-day lives. Dr Thomas looked forward to the creation of ‘‘a technically-literate culture in Australia ... that ascribes value to science and engineering’’, in contrast to our current economic reliance on extraction of mineral resources. Our main customer for those resources, the People’s Republic of China, is one of a number of nations already looking at ways that space can provide answers to meeting mankind’s increasing energy needs, in the form of a solar power station orbiting 36,000 kilometres above the Earth.

The CSIRO’s Dr Williams has said the Morrison government’s initial commitment of $150 million is enough to give Australia a ‘‘genuine role’’ in the next wave of space research and exploration, but political will and focus are certain to be at least as important as additional funding in ensuring our success. It is worth recalling the fanfare and the $1.1 billion budget that accompanied the ill-fated ‘‘innovation agenda’’ of Mr Morrison’s predecessor, with its promises that research would be boosted and the economy diversified, and how that agenda was seen as failing to resonate across the electorate.

Can the government, having ostensibly put the ideological divides of the Abbott-Turnbull years behind it, make us a nation that looks to the future, values science and promotes international cooperation to tackle scientific challenges without reopening those rifts? Even more importantly, can it reverse the trend of spending cuts and provide regulatory certainty in the sphere of research and development?

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As Dr Thomas has said, the dividend of such an achievement would be reaped in the long term. At a time of widespread concern about the number of girls taking up science and technology subjects at school, the space sector in Australia is blessed with a concentration of talented women, including Dr Clark at the ASA. It is hard to overstate the impact of greater visibility for their work on the generations of female students to come. Perhaps, as we have found with today’s ubiquitous GPS systems, the progress we make in space can help us find our way on Earth.

Since The Age was first published in 1854, the editorial team has believed it important to express a considered view on the issues of the day for readers, always putting the public interest first. Elsewhere, we strive to cover a diversity of views without endorsing any of them.